The invention relates to a projectile for the cartridges fired from smoothbore shotguns. Persons skilled in the art will know that certain animals, wild boar for example, are hunted using conventional shotguns with a smooth bored, tapered barrel, firing cartridges charged with a single slug rather than with fine shot or pellets.
The firing of single projectile cartridges from conventional smoothbore firearms is beset by considerable problems, the most evident of which being a noticeable inaccuracy of the trajectory described by the projectile itself; such directional inaccuracy is accentuated by the taper of the barrel in firearms of the type.
Clearly enough, a fundamental characteristic required of the projectile of a shotgun cartridge is that it should describe an accurate trajectory.
Another characteristic required of cartridge projectiles as mentioned above is that they should flatten readily once having penetrated into the body of an animal, so that the force of the charge can be spent entirely within the body.
Various projectiles have been designed to meet such a requirement, though in practice, none of these designs have been found to offer both of the aforementioned characteristics at one and the same time.
Certain of the projectiles in question afford good directional accuracy, but penetrate excessively into the body of the animal as a result of their ogival shape, and of their center of gravity, which lies forward of the center of thrust. Projectiles of this type do not flatten readily, and can pass clean through the animal quite easily.
Other types of projectile are designed to flatten readily on impact, and incorporate wedges or other elements to that end; these are particularly expensive to manufacture however, and noticeably lacking in directional accuracy.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to embody a projectile that possesses both of the characteristics aforementioned--i.e. a projectile that will describe an accurate trajectory in flight, and flatten readily once having penetrated the body of the animal.
A further object of the invention is that of gaining a reduction in the manufacturing costs of such a projectile, the structural features of which are such that it can be cast or forged.